Katter on mission to reform Reserve Bank

Queensland independent MP Bob Katter has launched an attack on the Reserve Bank of Australia, saying legislative reform is needed to bring down interest rates.

Speaking at a press conference in Sydney on Monday, Mr Katter said Australia’s interest rate was out of step with the rest of the world and the high dollar was putting the economy in danger.

Rates needed to be brought down to 2 per cent, he said.

“If Australia is continuously hovering around four-and-a-half per cent and the rest of the world is on 1 per cent and the United States and Japan are on 0.1 per cent, then clearly our dollar is going to continue to rise," Mr Katter told reporters.

“There will be no manufacturing and no agriculture, and tourism ... will continue to collapse completely."

Mr Katter said he was “very determined" for his new party, Katter’s Australian Party, to put pressure on the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates.

He also called for legislative change to the Reserve Bank Charter to widen its brief when assessing interest rates.

“I absolutely believe you have to come down to that range of around 2 per cent," he said.

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“We are very, very determined that there be pressure put on the Reserve Bank. They don’t live in an ivory tower, and it’s about time that they realise they have responsibilities to the whole of Australia."

Mr Katter said he also wanted to tackle the crisis over housing affordability in Queensland by removing all restrictions on sub-divisions.

“We’ve got to narrow down and fine-tune that proposal. .. but there has to be a restraint on the growth of unaffordable housing," he said.